A German based in Dublin will be formally charged in Rome court today with the murder of his Chinese wife.
36-year-old Li Yinglei went missing during a 10-day Mediterranean cruise that started and ended in Port Civitavecchia-Rome. The 46-year-old Daniel Belling and the couple’s 2 children, a 6-year-old boy and a 4-year-old girl, disembarked from MSC Magnifica on Monday after the ship anchored in Civitavecchia.
However, the ship’s crew noticed a discrepancy in the number of passengers alighting compared with the number registered as being aboard.
On further examination, the crew confirmed Ms Yinglei had boarded on February 10th but had not disembarked 10 days later. None of the crew could confirm they had seen her in recent days. Police detained Mr Belling at Rome’s Ciampino airport, where he was about to board a flight to Dublin with the two children.
Mr Belling was arrested and taken to Rome’s Regina Coeli prison, where he is due to be charged on Friday, according to his lawyer Luigi Conti. It is understood the police have also spoken to the couple’s children.
Mr Conti said Mr Belling is a German citizen based in Dublin, where he works as an IT consultant. Mr Conti said his client was anxious to have a court hearing, which would offer him a chance to explain his wife’s disappearance to a judge.
The Irish consulate in Rome City confirmed it was aware of the case, but said that since Mr Belling is a German citizen, it is not currently involved in the court proceedings.